


Elation

by ChrisBranNorling



Series: Guild Wars 2 Stories [10]
Category: Guild Wars 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Cisgender Character, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 09:32:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10873998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrisBranNorling/pseuds/ChrisBranNorling
Summary: A successful test flight.1328 AE





	Elation

Soft tapping brings the last wooden peg into its proper place on the glider’s frame. Rancalagen holds it up, inspecting the patchwork wings for minute tears before nodding his head. Another test run is in order.

Placing it down on the ground, he lays back over it and commences tying the multitude of ropes to his body. One around each shoulder, another around his upper chest, middle, then around each thigh. All securing him tightly to the main-frame. He jiggles a lever by his side, and the entire structure creaks, almost forcing him up off the ground. With those checks done, he hauls himself up, placing his feet in two loops that will connect to the tail-flap upon deployment.

He reaches up to a rotating lever, and reels in the wings. When he hears a click, he moves to another lever by his head and pulls it forwards. The wings launch outwards, jerking his body left and right as one comes out less quickly than the other. Loops of rope resting against the wooden frame get tugged one by one, and corresponding sections of the wings respond.

Finally deeming everything up to snuff, Rancalagen reels the wings back in, and begins a stiff hike to the upper part of the crashed airship.

The still smoking hull of the ship (even after what could be weeks) offers nothing but itself to eyes hidden behind cracked and dirty goggles. So he turns around, facing the chaotic open sky instead. From his memory, he picks out where a particularly strong updraft is, which had shredded his glider a few days previously. The patchwork wings a testament to his failure.

Angling himself towards it, his chest expands as much as it can under the constrictive nature of tight ropes, and he jumps off the edge.

It takes only a few seconds after he pulls down the lever for the wings to deploy, but it’s long enough for his stomach to drop farther than his body does. Before he can focus too hard on the feeling, the cloth spanning the wings lifts upwards, catching the edge of the updraft. Rancalagen quickly grabs a hold of two of the loops and pulls them to the side, adding extra rigidity to the wings.

The creaking of the glider’s frame almost overtakes the rush of wind as he’s picked up. But it holds, and as the draft lets him go, he refuses to think of how light he feels.


End file.
